Michigan, colleges ban Four Loko

The state of Michigan has officially banned Four Loko, the highly caffeinated alcoholic beverage that's gotten a whole lot of bad press this fall. In a series of incidents, numerous college kids ended up hospitalized around the country after apparently ingesting copious amounts of the multi-stimulating beverage.

The Michigan ban states that all alcoholic energy drinks "pose serious health and safety risks to American youth" and must be taken off the shelves within 30 days.

But is Four Loko really that bad?

Drinking one can of Four Loko is said to be the rough equivalent of downing five light beers and a cup of coffee -- but for the low, low price of about $2.50. "If you set out to engineer a booze delivery system that is as cloying, deceptive and divorced from the usual smells, tastes and presentation of alcohol as possible, you'd be hard pressed to come up with something more impressive than Four Loko," former New York Times food critic Frank Bruni opined last week, after generously sampling the beverage.

But taste aside, mixing caffeine with alcohol can have a disorienting effect on the drinker, making it harder for him to realize he is becoming intoxicated, health professionals say.

"It can cause you to become a 'wide-awake drunk,' " Madeleine Estabrook, executive director of university health and counseling services at Northeastern University, told the Boston Globe. "You mistakenly conclude you can perform potentially dangerous tasks, like driving or crossing a busy road.''

In October, nine college freshmen at Central Washington Unversity were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko at a party -- they were so intoxicated that police originally thought they had been drugged. More than 20 students at Ramapo College in New Jersey also ended up hospitalized in the space of a month after drinking Four Loko, and the college has since banned the drink.

Eighteen attorneys general have urged the FDA to investigate the drink, and the agency is now asking 30 manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks to prove their products are safe. Critics also say the fruity flavor and bright packaging of Four Loko are meant to appeal to young people.

Boston College, Northeastern University, Harvard University, the University of Rhode Island and other colleges have banned or warned students about the drink. Meanwhile, Phusion Projects, the drink's manufacturer, says it is opposed to both underage and binge drinking and has hired a PR firm to quibble with reporters over exactly how much alcohol its products contain. Phusion is also considering legal options to challenge the Michigan ban, according to the Wall Street Journal, and argues that people have been mixing alcohol and caffeine long before Four Loko came along.

Fittingly, the drink that is getting so many college kids into trouble was invented in 2005 by three Ohio State college students. They wanted to harness the popularity of mixed drinks in bars and clubs that contained Red Bull and other energy beverages.

And in case you doubt the drink's appeal, Willy Staley flags an awesomely low-budget hip-hop video singing Four Loko's praises over at the Awl.com

(Photo: Four Loko/AP)